In this edition of Sliced, 3D Printing Industry’s news digest, we ask: How can 3D printing help visually impaired students? Can rapid prototyping mobilize soldiers on the battlefield? Are musicians using 3D printed instruments? Can a 3D printed activist halt the legalization of 3D printed guns?

The following stories features PostProcess Technologies, EOS, Evonik, America Makes,Manufacturing Technologies Association, Additive Industries, Asiga, the University of South Florida(USF) Advanced Visualization Center (AVC), and more.

A 3D printed activist

Manuel Oliver, the father of a victim of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, has 3D printed a sculpture of his son which remains in Times Square, to protest the legality of 3D printed guns.

The 3D printed commemorative sculpture of Joaquin Oliver is said to be the first “3D printed activist as its aim is to bring awareness on the need for gun safety.

Additive manufacturing and the dental & medical sector

Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, 3Shape, develops 3D scanners and CAD/CAM software solutions for the dental and medical sector. The 3Shape Implant Studio CAD software has been integrated by Australian 3D printer manufacturer Asiga into its range of stereolithography systems for an optimized workflow.

“Sighted individuals have maps, which we use all the time. Those are typically 2D printed maps,” Kaplan explained. “With the availability and access to 3D printing, I figured this might be an area where I could use 3D printing to apply some sort of touch-based encoding system for the purpose of creating maps for the blind.”

“For manufacturers, the best news was the expansion of the Annual Investment Allowance from £200,000 to a whopping £1,000,000. This was a specific ‘ask’ from the MTA and we are very pleased that the Chancellor agreed with us that it was a wise move to boost investment in a difficult climate.”

“The change, which will apply to any purchase made on or after the 1st of January 2019, is a potentially huge boost for machinery and equipment suppliers over the next two years and should encourage more of our member’s customers to invest in the latest technology.”

The link to the MTA’s Report into the True Impact of Manufacturing is available here.

“The user interface of the previous version was complex and developer-driven, so our goal from the offset was to create an outstanding user experience that makes it easy to reap the rewards of additive manufacturing technology,” said Markus Frohnmaier, Team Manager Data Preparation Software at EOS.

The EOSPRINT 2 software suite, integrated into industrial EOS 3D printers, includes an intuitive data preparation tool designed to assign and optimize build parameters for CAD data. The software also defines laser paths during the part build process, which affects surface finishes, tensile strength, and build speed.

Ronald Rael, co-founder, and CEO of Emerging Objects, a San Francisco Bay Area 3D printing “MAKE-tank”, will present the lecture “Alternative Materials for 3D Printing in Design, Art and Architecture” at Western New Mexico University (WNMU) as part of its Emerging Technologies and Creative Commerce lecture series.

The lecture, which takes place on November 12th, will discuss how additive manufacturing can expand the capabilities of construction – demonstrated by Emerging Objects’ 3D printed Cabin. Find out more about the Rael’s talk here.

Emerging Objects’ Cabin of Curiosities. Photo via Emerging Objects.

Mixed reality company Magic Leap has revealed a variety of Augmented reality (AR) software at its first creator conference in Los Angeles, California. This included Onshape 3D CAD, a cloud CAD system app and SketchUp, used for live 3D modeling and product design. Explore the full selection of Magic AR experiences here.

Onshape engineers testing out the new app with a Formula One car designed by an Onshape customer, Team Perrinn. Image via Magic Leap.

New York’s PostProcess Technologies has opened its first international office and the launch of its product line in Sophia-Antipolis, a European technology park in France, after exclusively operating in North America.

“While we have an immediate solution to automate post-printing for support removal and surface finish, the real power of the PostProcess technology is its capability to enable digital manufacturing in a factory 4.0 environment,” said Bruno Bourguet, Managing Director at PostProcess Technologies.

“There is high interest from companies in Europe in our solutions and the role that automated post-printing plays in unleashing the power of 3D printing.”

Advancing additive manufacturing with machinery

In a recent interview with ICIS, Sylvia Monsheimer, Head of New 3D Printing Technologies at Evonik, a German specialty chemicals company, addressed the lack of machinery in the advancement of additive manufacturing.

“For the technology to really take off, machine availability is crucial – and here I am talking about machines capable of production. The target [for machinery] is changing from quick to reliable and economical,” explained Monsheimer.

“The 3D printing process itself has to be incorporated in the production chain; it cannot be a standalone situation. All of the requirements for a safe and sustainable production chain have to be met.”

At the 4th edition of the CII Smart Manufacturing Summit, Honda Cars India emphasized its shift into adopting industry 4.0 technologies. “Our welding shop has already started using the 3D printing technology and sooner than later we will expand its use across our manufacturing facility,” said Mukesh Manocha, Assistant General Manager, Welding Division, Honda Cars India in a recent interview.

Moreover,Camp Humphreys, a United States Army Garrison, located in South Korea, has demonstrated the value of additive manufacturing on the battlefield by 3D printing Humvee ignition switches and M4 rifle butt-stocks.